Readers who scooped up political fare last year are now being offeredaccounts of the Iraq conflict by soldiers who were recently on thebattlefield.

Their memoirs offer a range of experience and perspective on the war, fromreformed slacker Colby Buzzell, who worries there's no end in sight, toDartmouth alumnus Nathaniel C. Fick, who sees peace on the horizon if moretroops are mobilized.

The tone in each is blunt. "The world hears war stories told by reportersand retired generals who keep extensive notebooks and journals," writesformer National Guardsman John Crawford. "They carry pens as they walk,whereas I carried a machine gun."

Publishers say these soldier memoirs complement books penned by journalistsabout the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. "They put you further inside thesoldier's head and tell you what it's like to shoot at somebody, what it'slike to be shot at, and how they got there," says Ivan Held, president ofG.P. Putnam's Sons. "These books take you into Iraq and give you afirst-hand look."

Part of the appeal of the new battlefield memoirs is that they featureordinary people performing in extraordinary ways under pressure. "There aresignificant numbers of readers out there who want to know what theexperience is really like," says David Steinberger, CEO of Perseus BooksLLC, a unit of Washington private-equity firm Perseus LLC.

These authors are little-known, but their stories are extraordinary. Below,culled from interviews with five new writers, are descriptions of theirbooks and a taste of what they contain.

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THE BOOK: "My War: Killing Time in Iraq," publishing in October.The Author: A 26-year-old slacker feeling that life was passing him by,Colby Buzzell was rejected by the Marines. He waited a couple of weeks toensure that he could pass an Army drug test.The Plot: The inside story as told by Everyman. Mr. Buzzell arrived in IraqNovember 2003 and left the following October.Behind the Scenes: In his eighth month in Iraq, Mr. Buzzell, now 29, startedwww.cbftw.blogspot.com.Worst Moment: Getting his first leave canceled.Take on the War: Mr. Buzzell is concerned that there is no end in sight."What is winning? Is it winning the global war on terrorism? Eliminating allthe insurgents in Iraq?"